Fact of the Day: Fewer Canadians Going to the US

There's less traffic at the Canada-US border these days

Ever since Donald Trump became President of the United States and taunted Canada about becoming the 51st state, there's a lot of anecdotes of people saying they are not traveling to the United States anytime soon.

And now there are numbers to back it up.

According to Statistics Canada, the number of return trips among Canadians traveling to the US in March plummeted compared to the previous year. When it comes to air travel, it was down by 13.5 percent, and for land travel a whopping 32 percent.

Canadians are also concerned about the possibility of being detained, after reports of people being detained, including Canadian actress Jasmine Mooney, who was detained for 11 days last month when her work visa application was denied at the US-Mexico border.

"I got put into real jail. So it's just like the movies, two levels, cells on each side," she said in an interview with CBC News. "I didn't leave my cell for, I think, 24 hours, to be honest I was so distraught."

US Customs and Border Protection says the Trump administration is cracking down on people who try to enter the US under fraudulent pretenses or with malicious intent.

"Lawful travellers have nothing to fear from these measures, which are designed to protect our nation's security," wrote Hilton Beckham, CBP's assistant commissioner.

Last week the Canadian government quietly updated its online travel advice to the US. Ottawa now reminds travellers to "expect scrutiny" at the US border, including smartphone searches.

Around the same time someone I met over dinner told me they had gone through her emails and social media and deleted any negative mention of Trump just to be safe...